1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for assigning an Internet Protocol (IP) address to a node connected to a network, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for assigning an IP address to a node connected to a network by using a zero configuration.
2. Description of the Related Art
The first method of assigning an IP address was that a user set up an IP address by himself after receiving the IP address from a network administrator on the Internet. Then, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), an institute for enacting Internet standards, suggested a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) that assigns IP addresses automatically. Although the DHCP is widespread, its function is limited to minimizing the number of IP addresses that are not used in a corresponding network by assigning efficiently IP addresses to many nodes within a network. When a node of a network is moved to another network, the DHCP has a shortcoming that it performs a user authentication poorly.
Although a node of a network is moved, a mobile IP in support of IP address translation performs authentication and allows the general use of a network. However, to use the mobile IP, a mobile agent, which is an administrator of a network for mobile computers, should be set up, which causes the following problems. First, when a mobile node using a mobile IP, i.e., a mobile computer, is moved to another network from a network it belonged to, network resources are wasted a lot because all the traffics transmitted to the node should pass through a home agent, which is an agent of the network the mobile node originally belonged to. A second problem is that one single agent cannot afford to administrate a great deal of mobile nodes.